Internal combustion rotary engine



P 0, 1935 J. G. JACKSON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE 'Filed Sept. 24, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l I F y gfl/ INVENTOR.

JAM: s 5. JACKSON ATTORNEY Sept. 10, 1935. J G JACKSON 2,013,916

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE Filed Sept. 24, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JIMEs J c/rsozv dlwx. D

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 10, 1935 lTE STT T c FFICE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE James G. Jackson, Glendale, Calif., assignor of one-half to Jerome OConnor, Los Angeles,

Calif.

Application September 24, 1932, Serial No..634,74l 2 Claims. (01. 12346) ..My invention hasreference to rotary engines and particularly, although not necessarily, to

:rotary internal combustion engines having elliptical cylinders and eccentrically mounted pistons such as shown in Patent No. 984,904 issued Feb.

. It is a purpose of my invention to provide a rotary internal combustion engine characterized by a cylinder of true elliptical form in cross section in which a piston rotates about an axis which iseccentric of the major axis and concentric of the. minor axis of the cylinder, the piston having blades movable therein and contacting with the elliptical wall of the cylinder so that under rotation of the piston the blades are radially re- .ciprocated to successively define chambers which alternately and progressively decrease and increasefrom a maximum to a minimum area to coact with suitable ports and an ignition means for producing a plurality of propelling impulses with each revolution of the piston.

It is a purpose of my invention to produce an engine characterized by its structural simplicity, minimum number of moving parts, maximum power development for its weight, and the attainment of relatively high speeds with negligible vibration.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide a rotary engine of the above described character in which the admission of fuel to each chamber of the cylinder and the exhaust of burnt gases therefrom, is effected without the employment of valves reciprocating or otherwise, and the disadvantage attendant the use of such valves.

A further purpose "of my invention is the provision in a rotary engine of piston vanes radially reciprocable and structurally characterized by an intersecting arrangement one to the other, and

sealing strips at the edges of the vanes maintained in sealing engagement with the cylinder walls and also effectively lubricated by supplying oil under pressure through suitable ducts in the vanes.

I will describe only one form of rotary internal combustion engine embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view showing in side elevation one form of rotary internal combustion engine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

'Fig. 3 is a detail-sectional .view of the engine shown in the preceding view.

Fig. 4. is a detail viewshowing the admission port disc in sideelevation.

Fig. is a View similar to Fig. 4 showing the 5 chamber port disc.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view showing in side elevationone of the piston vanes.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the other of the two piston vanes. 10

Fig. 6 is a. detailed viewshowing the;piston vanes in edge elevation and assembled.

cylinder I limacon in cross section and fixed to .and supported on a base B.v Heads 9 and ill close the ends of the cylinder,. and these heads are constructed to receive the'confronting ends of a pair of shaft sections 6 and l and roller bearings 8. and 8 in which the. shaft sections rotate. Fixed to or formed integral withthe confronting ends of the shaft section are flanges 6 and l respectively. The. edges of these flanges are grooved to receive rings .20 for sealing the joints betweenthe flanges andcylinder heads 9 and ill against the. escape of fuel and burnt gases.

, The shaft sections 6 and 'l, are longitudinally alinedand they constitute in effect a single shaft which is disposed eccentrically of the major axis of the cylinder and on the-minor .axis thereof. 40 By reference to Fig. 2, it will be noted that this shaft lies in the'plane of the minor axis of the ellipse and at the point therein at which a chord 'of the ellipse equal in length to the minor axis and drawn perpendicular thereto intersects said minor .axis. Fixed to the shaft sections to operatively connect the latter so that they rotate in unison, I provide a piston P comprising a body of circular form made up of aplurality of sections 4 each of which is secured at its respective ends to the flanges 6? and l by means of bolts 5. In the present instance, the piston body is .made

upoffour sections or quadrants 4, and these sections areso. securedto the shaft'flanges as to provide intervening "slots; These slots coact to described, a plate form two major slots which intersect each other and which slidably receive a pair of vanes I I and I2 in such manner that the opposite ends of the vanes are in sliding contact with the inner periphery of the cylinder I, while the side edges of the vanes are in sliding contact with the confronting faces of the flanges 8 and l Each vane has a length approximately equal to the length of the minor axis of the limacon cylinder I and a width corresponding to the width of the interior of the cylinder. Since the shaft 6, I is located in the cylinder in the position above described, it follows that when either vane is in horizontal position or vertical position as illustrated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2, it exactly fits the cylinder, the ends of the vane contacting with the curved interior surface of the cylinder. Hence, either blade will approximately fit the cylinder at every position of rotation of the piston.

The construction of the vanes II and I2 and the manner in which they are interrelated is best illustrated in Figs. 6, 8 and 9. The vane I I is provided with an opening N of such size that by positioningthevane I2 diagonally thereof it can Fig. 6. In order that the vane I2 may freely move relative to the blade II, the side edges of the vane I2 are recessed as indicated at I2 Once the two vanes have been assembled as II is inserted within the opening Il of the vane II and then secured by spotwelding, so that the plate now forms an integral part of the vane. To accommodate this plate the vane I2 is formed with a slot I2 so that the two vanesare still free to reciprocate one on the other.

All working edges of both vanes are formed with grooves I8 in which sealing strips H of L-form in cross section are received in the grooves. These strips H are provided for the purpose of sealing the joints between the edges of the vane and the walls of the cylinder to prevent leakage of fuel and burnt gases to either side of the vanes. The strips H are made in sections, with the meeting ends of the sections rabbeted to allow relative movement of the sections one to the other and yet maintain a joint between any pair ofsections which is closed at all times. The construction and arrangement of the several strip sections for the two vanes are clearly shownin Figs. 8 and 9.

To maintain the sealing strips I! in sealing relation to the walls of the cylinder and other parts which they contact, and also to effectively lubricate the confronting surfaces for the purpose of reducing friction, I. provide means by which oil under pressure can be supplied to the grooves I8 behindthe strips I! for forcing the strips outwardly against the walls of .the cylinder. This means comprises a duct 2| in the shaft section 6. One end of the duct is adapted for communication with a source of oil supply under pressure, while the other end, as shown in Fig. 3, is in communication with the slots between the sections of the piston body so that oil under pressure is supplied not only to the slots to lubricate the vanes in their sliding movements in the piston body, but also to supply oil to the openings II and I2 From these openings the oil is delivered to the grooves I8 by the provision of ducts I9 in the vanes II and I2. The

vdisk I 4 through bolts 9 arrangement of these ducts is clearly illustrated by the dash lines in Fig. 6.

With the piston in position within the cylinder as illustrated in Fig. 2, four separate cylinder chambers 2I, 22, 23 and 24 are formed. While 5 these chambers constantly change and merge into one another under rotative movement of the pistons, they are indicated by different numerals for convenience of description. For supplying fuel to the chamber 2i, an intake manifold I6 is 10 provided. This manifold is extended through the head 9 for communication with a master intake port I5 in a disk Id. Chamber ports I3, one for each of the cylinder chambers are provided in a disk 6 and these ports I3 are adapted to successively register with the master port I5 for supplying charges of fuel to the individual chambers.

By reference to Fig. '7, it will be seen that the head I0 is secured to the cylinder I by bolts Ill 0 while the head 9 is not secured directly to the cylinder but indirectly by being secured to the The disk I4, in turn, is secured to the cylinder I by countersunk cap screws 9*. The center of the disk I I is formed with an opening to accommodate the flange 6 The disk 6* is formed integral with the shaft section 6 so as to be disposed to the outer side of the flange 6 and concentric of the shaft section Ii. Thus it will be seen that the disk I4 is 39 stationary, while the disk 6' rotates with the shaft section. It will therefore be understood that under rotative movement of the disk 6 the ports I3 successively register with the master port I5.

The charges of fuel supplied successively to the several cylinder chambers, are adapted to be ignited by a spark plug 3 secured in the periphery of the cylinder I at a point substantially diametrically opposed to the master intake port I5. 40 The burnt gases from the several cylinder chambers are exhausted to atmosphere through an exhaust port 2 positioned to the left and substantially midway between the spark plug 3 and the ,port I5.

The operation of the engine is as follows:

With the piston turning in a clock-wise direction as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, a charge of fuel will be drawn into the chamber 2| as the chamber increases in size with-rotation of the piston. When this chamber has increased to its maximum area it is closed by the vane II passing the port I 5. Further rotation of the piston compresses the charge and when compressed to the extent indicated in chamber 23, the charge will be ignited and the burning and expanding gases will react against the leading vane and rotate the piston to the left. As the piston continues to rotate the chamber will increase in size until it reaches the condition indicated by the chamber 24. In this position the chamber is in communication with the exhaust port 2, and thus the spent gases are discharged to atmosphere. This cycle of operation continues successively with each chamber so that 6 four power impulses are produced with each revolution of the piston.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of rotary internal combustion engine embodying my invention, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of my invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 7

I claim:

1. A rotary engine having a cylinder; an exhaust port in the periphery of the cylinder; heads closing the ends of the cylinder; a shaft comprising two sections extended through the respective heads; flanges fixed on the confronting ends of the shaft sections; a piston body in the cylinder secured to and connecting said flanges; vanes reciprocable in the piston body and defining in conjunction with the cylinder, a plurality of noncommunicating chambers; a disc secured to one of the shaft sections and having a plurality of ports therein one for each of the chambers; a second disc fixed to the cylinder between the latter and the first disc and having a master intake port therein so positioned that the ports of the first disc successively register therewith upon rotation of the shaft section to supply fuel charges successively to the several chambers; the second disc having an opening therein rotatably receiving one of the flanges; fluid-sealing means at the outer edges of the flanges; and ignition means in the cylinder.

2. A rotary engine having a cylinder; heads closing the ends of the cylinders; a shaft comprising two sections extended through the respective heads of the cylinder and having flanges on the confronting ends thereof; a piston body in the cylinder comprising a plurality of sections of L-form in cross-section and having flanged ends; means for securing the flanged ends of said sections to the flanges of said shaft sections so that intersecting slots are formed between the piston 15 body sections; and vanes slidable in said slots.

JAMES G. JACKSON. 

